New Squidbeak Splatoon: Uprising

Cuttlefish Bunker

A small mem cake fumbled through her hands. The young Octoling, sitting still in her dimly room on her worn out bed, stared at it with minimal blinking, as it was one of the few things which still brought her comfort. A small, orange haired Inkling mem cake. Every night, she felt, she stared at this single mem cake, the first mem cake she ever received and the only one she kept. Her surroundings were bleak, a dome shaped room mostly made out of metal, with some paper hung on the walls, each containing a few lines of poetry she wrote. This place, this small sad room, was her home now.

With a sigh, she pulled out her CQ-80, placing it on the bed and tapping the analog stick, a sudden bright holographic screen appearing in front of her. As always, she was a bit phased by the sudden light, but shrugged it off and moved to the record tab. She tapped the analog again, a red circle appearing indicating it was recording. With a sigh, she began speaking to it.

"Dear diary. It's been.... 6 months today since the NILS Statue. Meaning that we've been in this bunker for 6 months. I still have dreams about that day and how I could've done things differently, but.... it doesn't distract from the fact that we're running out of food. Marina doesn't know what to do. No one does. Mr. Cuttlefish can't focus, Pearl isn't speaking to anybody, Marina is getting more and more anxious, and no one can sleep, I hear Pearl up at night all the time making music, swearing in her room and whatnot. No one is acting like themselves. Ever since Jessica left, we all accepted defeat, and we've been trying to keep ourselves busy, but... there's only so much one can do to stay sane down here."

The Octoling sat back, her back against the wall, her mem cake close to her heart, as she fought back ink-filled tears. "I-I don't know how to keep this up. I spent... all that time trying to make it to the surface that I never considered what would happen if there's nothing to find. This was all my fault too. The whole world rested on my shoulders, and I failed. I ended up paying that price. ....I hope that one day Tartar pays his price as well, but that day won't be today. Can't be today or tomorrow. Probably won't be ever. We need Jessica back, we need food, and, we need hope. Too bad we don't have any of that right now."

Another long sigh escaped her mouth. "Love, Bridgett. Don't get cooked." She clicked on the analog again, the CQ-80 saving her recording and shutting down. Setting it on the floor, she slowly pulled the covers over her, preparing for just another sleepless night.

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"God.... dammit!" Marina suddenly shouted as she slammed her open palm on the table. "They keep finding my drones!"

Cap'n Cuttlefish slowly and shakily carried his small breakfast meal to the table, his cane in hand as always. "Easy there, sweetheart, we only have one table."

Marina grunted under her breath as she rapidly typed on her laptop. "We're running out of materials for new drones. Tartar's creatures keep finding them. Sooner or later we're gonna have nothing, and worse still, this is gonna lead them right to our doorstep!" She suddenly slammed the laptop shut and stood up. "This is so stupid! Tartar has those things everywhere! I can't keep doing this!"

"Young lady, those abominations are mindless and you know it. They aren't gonna find us with a couple of drone parts."

Marina grasped the chair in front of her, masking a panic attack with a brief smile. "You're right. I just need to stay positive." Her brief smile now turned into a gleaming one. "Staying... positive."

A door was heard opening down the hall from the dining room, Bridgett stepping in shortly after. The dining room, which doubled as the living room in such a small place, was gray and sad just like the rest of the bunker, with metal walls and shelves with lines of canned food. The room's main light was dim and blinking, but some of the walls were lined with computer monitors hooked to the walls, which constantly showed information about the date and time, bunker temperature with other living conditions, and updates on Inkopolis' current... condition. The room overall, however, was easily the biggest one in the bunker, thus being the most comfortable room to be in.